The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems (IHSs), and more particularly to an IHS status alert system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an IHS. An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
An IHS provides an abundance of sounds, graphics, and other information/data to users of the IHS via output devices such as speakers and a display screen. In a group setting, such as a classroom, where the students are facing the teacher and the teacher is facing the students, the teacher cannot see what images or messages are being displayed on each individual student's IHS display because the teacher is generally positioned at the front of the class room and thus, at the back side of the display screen of each student's IHS. As such, it is difficult for the teacher or other non-user of the IHSs to quickly determine a status of each student's IHS or running applications in such a group setting. In other words, teachers have a difficult time monitoring an entire classroom of students using portable IHSs at the same time.
Unfortunately, it is difficult for the teacher to move away from their teaching position at the front of the class room and position themselves behind all of the students to monitor progress or status of the student's work on the IHS. As an example, if the students are all taking an exam on their individual IHS and one student is having difficulty with one question and stops progressing with the remaining exam questions, the teacher would not learn of this until the exam is over and turned in to the teacher and the student has earned a poor score on the exam. In this case, the student may fall behind. However, if the teacher could quickly scan the class room to see a status of each student's IHS or application, the teacher could address any problems or issues right from the start.
Some IHSs use custom alert systems. However, these alerts are delivered to the IHS display screen and the teacher or other non-user of the IHS would not be alerted because of their location at the front of the classroom. In addition, this type of alert system where the alert notification is provided to the display screen requires that the IHS be turned on and fully booted/operating. In addition, the user has to open run that particular application in order to receive the alert notification. In other examples, IHSs may provide peripheral based alerts, but these alerts generally include using a light or other device in a fixed function manner.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved IHS status alert system.